Day 2 New York

The first night in New York is over. Well-rested and full of energy to explore the city, we set out to pick up our bus tickets. This worked surprisingly smoothly. Contrary to the description of the New York Pass, we were able to use the tickets for 3 days instead of just 1 day.

Afterwards, we went to Applebee's for breakfast. Marcel devoured 3 pancakes with chocolate chips and 3 liters of chocolate sauce. He also had 4 slices of bacon for $3.99. Wonderful! Since there was no cola in the morning, he drank apple juice instead.

After our hearty breakfast, we headed to the BigBus. I must say that this bus is a great invention. It's just unfortunate when you're constantly stuck in traffic and it takes forever to travel short distances. On our next visit, we'll opt for the subway instead. There are far fewer delays to be expected. But oh well. So we took the bus to the Brooklyn Bridge and walked across it. This is already an exciting adventure - the bridge is crowded with people and cyclists zoom past at lightning speed. So it's important to always keep your eyes open.

On the other side of the bridge, we strolled through the neighborhood of 'Dumbo' and the Brooklyn Park right on the Hudson River.

And then... then came the highlight of the day. Maybe even the whole vacation. A few months ago, Sabrina turned 35, I mean 25 ;D. I had gifted her a helicopter tour over New York. Today was the day to redeem it. So we always had an eye on the time, as the helicopter company had rescheduled the flight from 3:30pm. We had to be at the heliport by 2pm. It was located right across from Brooklyn Park. To get there, we tried the next mode of transportation after the bus, subway, and VIP shuttle - the ferries. For just $2.30, we could comfortably cross the Hudson in less than 5 minutes and were practically at the heliport. Now we had some time left and decided to go see Wall Street. I have to say, it's not exactly how it's portrayed in some movies. Much of it takes place behind the closed doors and walls of the big banks and the New York Stock Exchange. You can also clearly see that there is a lot of fear of attacks. Police and barricades everywhere. Also, a lot of private security guards. But all in all, it's something you should see at least once.

Of course, we wanted to pay a visit to the golden bull. It was surrounded by tourists and we had to navigate our way through the crowd. At least we were able to take some photos.

A few hundred meters away is Battery Park. From there, many ferries depart for the Statue of Liberty. We enjoyed a few minutes of peace in the park and watched the 'bankers' during their lunch break.

Then it was time. We made our way to the heliport. Once we arrived, we were given instructions. The usual routine.

https://youtu.be/vOU7XZkCQqA -> here you can watch our helicopter tour on video. Pictures speak louder than a thousand words!

The experience was amazing and I think Sabrina had a great time too.

After the helicopter tour, we started to feel a little hungry. But first, we needed to buy sunscreen. We had left ours at the hotel because the weather forecast predicted cloudy skies for today. Luckily, there was bright blue sky and a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius. We took the BigBus back to Times Square and took in the city a bit more from the bus.

By this time, it was already 5 PM. We briefly went to the hotel to freshen up. Then, we went to have dinner at the BBQ Diner.

Afterwards, we made our way to the Empire State Building. We specifically chose the evening hours because this way we could experience both New York during the day and at night, including the sunset. Thanks to the New York Passes, we were able to bypass the crowds a bit faster. The view was breathtakingly beautiful. We've attached a few photos to the blog here.

After the Empire State Building, we treated ourselves to a cold drink at a bar on Times Square. Another long day comes to an end.